I hate ab work and I hate Pilates. But somehow, I
still enjoy this tape. Moira seems to really know her
stuff. You won't get any talk here about how sexy
you'll look, or how toned you'll be. Instead, you will
get very teachery, well-explained moves that focus not
only on ab toning (the hundred, the bicycle) but on
core stabilization (pelvic tilts) and back
strengthening. She spaces the moves so you aren't
doing too many crunch-type activities in a row. There
were some moves here I haven't seen, such as one where
you have your hands on your forehead and lean back as
if to the floor, but stopping halfway. The hand
position prevents you from balancing your arms and
forces your abs into stabilizing you in a
half-balance.

Moira does not do the workout herself, but instructs
two others who perform the moves on raised mats. Each
of them is apparently performing different variations
of the move, but Moira does not explain what these
variations are. This is not the type of workout that
you can really be looking up at the screen all the
time though: I had my mat on the floor and tried to
follow on verbal cues alone to keep my head aligned
properly. If you've read a Pilates book or had prior
Pilates experience you should be able to follow along,
but it is best to preview a tape like this at least
one.

I felt pleasantly relaxed after finishing this tape,
and will definitely try to incorporate it into my
routine. Moira leaves nothing out, and explains each
move very carefully. You only do a few reps of each
exercise, which makes the workout move quickly. And
doing only a few reps forces you to focus on form and
make every move count. Moira is at times a little dry,
and her inflection is rather monotone. But the
30-minute workout is so briskly paced that this is
less a detriment than it might be during a longer
routine.

This is a 35-minute Pilates workout that is good for someone who has
completed Essential Matwork but is not quite ready for Intermediate Matwork.

The production quality is so much better than Moira's first matwork series,
which is very clinical. The set in this tape is very pretty and the soft
music is nice, too.

Moira starts off with a brief overview of breathing and proper body
positioning. Although she does give form pointers throughout the workout, the
moves are done in a fast, flowing manner, so it is helpful to have some
knowledge of basic Pilates' exercises like the Hundred, Roll Up, etc. You
never do more than 10 reps of each exercise, so Moira packs a lot of
different movements into this time-crunch workout.

The only thing I find disconcerting about this tape is that the two exercise
demonstrators are on an upraised platform, so when they dangle their legs
over the edge, I don't know if I should be crossing my legs, putting them out
in front of me, or using some other position.

Instructor Comments: Moira Stott is a little looser in this tape than in her
first matwork series. Her style is similar to Karen Voight.

I generally find Pilates work very challenging, and
seldom get through a whole tape. Most of my experience
thus far has been with the Method tapes which are
broken up into short sections. They never function as
my sole workout for the day, but are a nice add-on,
and although they challenge me I find them relaxing.
The Stott tape is different in a few ways.

First, it is the first Pilates tape I have ever gotten
all the way through. BUT....and this is a big one...I
don't think it DID anything. I did not break a sweat.
I did not feel sore. Nothing at all happened to me. I
just did it then it was done. I think this is telling
me that I need more work on each body part than this
kind of stand-alone tape can offer me. When I split up
a Method tape, for example, I am doing only the abs
section, or only the back section or whatever. So I am
getting 15 minutes of ALL that body part. By trying to
cram the whole Pilates experience into 35 minutes, I
can't be getting as much attention for each part. It
would be like doing a 5-minute yoga tape.

Maybe I need to concentrate more, or move more slowly
or something, but I don't see why I should when I can
do a Method tape and feel results with that. It's not
a bad tape: Stott is very thorough, and explains
things well. But for me, this tape felt very...not me.